Founder of the Legacy Leaders Institute, Transforming Executives & Entrepreneurs into High-Performing Impact Leaders.
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Did you ever wonder why there are 7.9 billion people in the world at the moment, yet we have such a shortage of ethical, high-caliber leaders?
No wonder we are experiencing so much chaos and so many difficulties and challenges globally as well as locally within organizations, even beyond current economic and Covid-19 issues.
I have been researching this phenomenon for as long as I can remember.
The more I blogged on LinkedIn, studied organizational development and effectiveness models and best practices, connected with and interviewed thought leaders and researched and read articles, I could not help but think about how many organizations struggle, especially in current times, despite highly competent people working in their organization.
But now I finally understand how and why organizational and leadership DNA works and what makes it tick.
Hopefully, by now, you are a bit intrigued to dive deeper into why this is so important on the organizational and leadership level.
By accurately decoding organizational and leadership DNA, we ultimately unleash talent loyalty, commitment, high performance and engagement — a huge pain point that the majority of companies face today. But there are so many other benefits that may surprise you!
First, let's explore the benefits of uncovering and unleashing organizational DNA.
Use Of Data: Ironically, the solution for organizational DNA starts with data tracking and analysis. Unfortunately, most organizations have yet to put the right frameworks, policies and systems in place to ensure the ethical, responsible and effective use of workplace data that benefits their talent and overall organization.
Trust Dividends: Nothing can move in the right direction without dividends of trust accumulated and demonstrated consistently over the years. Sadly, that is also one of the most depleted ingredients within organizational DNA today! Why? We are missing responsible leadership capable of navigating and awaking dormant cultures resisting much-needed change while operating with high ethical standards. As a result, we see painful evidence of how it affects their biggest asset — their people.
Unlocking Value: When we have trust, then we have an additional exponential organizational asset — value! This goes beyond companies' websites and statements of their values, mission or vision. Instead, it needs to be evident through leadership ethics and principles demonstrated daily and integrated effectively in their internal operation. And that is hard to do, especially consistently, when you don't have skilled and capable leadership.
By now, you must be wondering what leadership DNA is all about, right? Or even better, how to obtain it?
To unlock leadership DNA on the individual and team level, we need to think about the capabilities and competencies necessary to lead not only today but also into the future. But more than ever, we need to think about their capability demonstrated through interactions with people, intellect (IQ), emotions (EQ), adaptability and agility to change and motivation.
Change Capabilities: Today's increasing change capabilities will be determined by two significant factors: emotional and social intelligence and capacity. The more we develop both, the better decisions we make and the higher tolerance we build for change. In addition, our performance will increase exponentially, as will the quality of relationships with peers, teams and clients. Being open to uncertainty and the unknown allows a leader to respond better to the situation at hand and lead in a much more effective way.
Intellectual Capabilities: Part of adult development is the integration of our two brain hemispheres. Through this process, we exponentially increase our critical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving, to name a few abilities. The left brain leverages our logical, analytical, intellectual and intuitive decisions and, ultimately, actions that lead to specific outcomes. But these capabilities will not be actualized or maximized without further developing and integrating right-brain functions through our emotional and creative outlets.
Motivation Capabilities: More than ever, our motivational capabilities are key prediction indicators of our success as a leader. They tell so much about what type of appetite we have to lead to win and deal with challenging situations until we accomplish desired outcomes. These powerful, energetic forces are infectious and can motivate others to be more, do more and achieve more than ever before. The key is to build and demonstrate consistent performance and a history of achievements.
People Capabilities: As we face in our day-to-day work and lives tremendous challenges and complexities, we have an excellent opportunity to elevate our people's capabilities on a much deeper level. Everything we experience shapes our behaviors. We need leadership competencies demonstrated through practical work with other people beyond just achieving tasks and generic results. We need leaders capable of managing self and personal skills while they continue to develop themselves and others in areas required by integrating positive human behaviors. How? Through their leadership, mindset, trust, courage, holistic thinking, co-creation, collaboration, shared vision and direction and enabling others to do something new!
At the end of the day, as I am looking through my organizational and leadership development and effectiveness lens, it is undeniable to see the individual, team, organizational and leadership DNA shaping our world today. But are we getting the results that we are looking for? Let's adjust our game accordingly, champions!
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